Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Salad

This is in no way a super ingenious idea that I woke up in a cold sweat at 2 am and ran into the kitchen to make. This combination is a “been there, done that” kind of thing. You can find thousands of variations and likely something similar to the one I did. It was absolutely delicious though. So, on the off chance that no one has ever made it quite like this, I had to share.

It’s super easy, has minimal ingredients and comes together very quickly. You can use leftover chicken and bacon if you have it, or cook it all at once. You can easily multiply or divide this recipe to make the exact amount you need. I’m an avocado freak, so I ate a whole avocado with my serving. I’ve been craving avocados for several days and this completely satisfied that craving. (Until tomorrow, anyways.)

Just to share a little bit of what’s going on with me and why you haven’t seen a whole lot of recipes…

I recently had some blood work done that came back almost perfect. It was a huge excitement for me as I’ve been living in fear of what it would say since August of last year. There was one thing slightly out of line, but nothing to be too concerned about as of right now. After talking to my doctor and doing major amounts of research, I have decided to drastically change my diet. I won’t go into any details, but it’s been difficult finding things that both Justin and I will enjoy. A couple years ago, we made a similar change to benefit Justin’s health and had HUGE results very quickly. It took a while to get used to, but it quickly became second nature to cook in that fashion. I’ve only been eating this new way for a short time, so I don’t quite have the hang of it. However, I completely believe that it will quickly become second nature as well and I’ll be able to start cranking out new recipes. I hope it serves as inspiration to some of you. I have a newfound respect for people who suffer from food allergies/aversions. It’s tricky navigating the world of food with so many things “off-limits.” Part of my diet change is temporary and part is permanent — depending upon how I feel later. So far, I feel amazing!

If your chicken needs cooked…
Preheat your oven to 350°F
Place the chicken on a baking sheet, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper
Massage the oil, salt and pepper into the chicken on all sides
Bake until the internal temperature using a meat thermometer is 165°F, checking every few minutes after the chicken has been in the oven for 20 minutes. You don’t want to overcook it

While the chicken is cooking, fry the bacon until crisp
While the bacon is frying, slice the onion into whatever size you fancy and dice the tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a large bowl
Remove the bacon from the pan, turn off the heat and toss in the onions (be careful of grease splatters)
Stir constantly until the onions are starting to turn golden, 3-4 minutes
Scoop the onions out of the pan and add them to the tomatoes. (You want some of the bacon grease to get in the bowl too to make the dressing. No need to deliberately scoop out grease, just let the residual oil stay on the onions)
Season the tomatoes and onion with a small sprinkle of salt and drizzle in the balsamic vinegar

Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for a few minutes
While the chicken is resting, dice the avocado and add it to the bowl
Dice the chicken and add it to the bowl and stir well to coat everything
Try a small bite to see if it needs more vinegar or salt